Portnoff Violin Concertino Op 13 for Violin and Piano

Portnoff: Violin Concertino Op. 13 — New Edition (Violin and Piano)

Portnoff's Violin Concertino Op. 13 follows the same philosophy as all his student concerto writing: the primary goal is musical beauty, not technical display. The piece asks a Grade 5 violinist to develop tone, phrasing, and sound production, with the technical demands growing naturally from the music rather than existing for their own sake. This is a newly engraved edition of the original violin and piano version, with clean, well-spaced parts that are straightforward to read and annotate.

The solo part covers the technical ground that matters at Grade 5. Good bow distribution and solid sound production run throughout, alongside a variety of bowing styles that broaden the player's technical range. There is some double stopping against open strings, which adds colour and a new technical challenge without being unreasonably demanding. Left-hand passages focus on finger independence and building left-hand facility, always in a musical rather than an exercise-like context.

At nine minutes, it's a practical length for examinations, local festivals, and studio recitals, and a reasonable commitment for regular practice at this level.

Check the score and parts preview images above, then watch the complete score video below. They'll give you a clear picture of the engraving quality and overall difficulty before you buy.

Key features

• Instrumentation: Solo Violin and Piano
• Difficulty: approximately ABRSM Grade 5 (violin)
• Duration: approximately 9 minutes
• Style focus: tone production, bow distribution, bowing styles, double stopping against open strings, finger independence
• Format: PDF download, full score and separate violin part

This suits Grade 5 violinists preparing for examinations, local festivals, and studio recitals where a full orchestra isn't available. Teachers will find the clean engraving easy to mark up with bowings and fingerings, and the separate violin part means the student can practise from their own copy independently.